Catherine

The Hunger (1983)

Vampires seem yet again to be all the rage, whatwith the succes of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series which seemingly gives even Harry Potter a run for his money in regard to popularity with certain demographics. Add to the franchise, a film adaptation by director Catherine Hardwicke which fed rookie Robert Pattinson to hungry legions of teenage girls (pun intended), leaving others puzzled as to who the fuck Robert Pattinson is...Other very recent emissions of vampires include the HBO series True Blood which has had its fair share of creating buzz and furthermore the critically acclaimed and visually stunning Swedish film Let the Right One In (based on John Ajvide Lindqvist's novel).

Apparently there's yet more to come, both for the silver screen and small screen, including screenwriter Diablo Cody's follow-up to Juno, Jennifer's Body starring muy caliente Megan Fox. No wonder vampires are rising again from wherever they were hiding, whatwith their being sexier than ever and being given more substance in the writing and material than in a good while, making them more accesible to the masses. Let's not get into the très ugly mess that was yesteryear's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a favourite among the freaks and geeks on the surface of this earth.

It will be interesting to see how long it will take for this wave to ride out. The thrill with vampires is nothing novel though; think only of Bram Stroker's Dracula, a character that transcends more literary and film genres than any other. A lot of the credit for making vampires the sexy and erotic creatures that they are occasionly portrayed as, is due fiction writer Anne Rice for her efforts with The Vampire Chronicles. When her Interview with a Vampire was adapted into motion picture in 1994, the task of filling the shoes of the characters Louis de Pointe du Lac and Lestat de Lioncourt was given to the likes of Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. Thus, hardly any repulsive specimens envisioned by Rice.

Amidst all the vampire references, I'd like to point out the cult classic, The Hunger from 1983 starring royalties Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie as a vampire power duo. The film really just is the epitome of ultra-cool and whatever flaw it has and it does, it compensates by the mere presence of its two leads and their chemistry as well as by aesthetically very pleasingvisuals. As a sidenote the great costumes in the film were all specifically designed by the late Yves Saint Laurent, giving the film a high-fashion layout. The film also caused some controversy for a particularly steamy lesbian scene between Deneuve and Susan Sarandon.